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Trans Day of Remembrance Commemorated Amid Escalating Violence

Members of the Panambi Theater Association, made up of trans performers, protest the murders of 54 transgender people in Asuncion, Paraguay. (photo: EFE)

Dawn Paley | teleSUR | Reader Supported News | November 20, 2015

The many layers of violence exercised against trans people in the Americas has been met with incredible bravery, as trans advocates take great chances to organize and to speak out.

n an unseasonably warm November night in Washington, D.C., dozens of transgender people, their allies, and supporters gathered at the corner of 14th and Irvine near the Columbia Heights metro station. One person was arrested as police attempted to move people out of the intersection, charges were later dropped.

Wednesday night’s demonstration was part of the Trans Week of Action in D.C. held in the lead up to the Trans Day of Remembrance, which is commemorated today around the world.

Participants in the action denounced the obstacles facing transgender people in the U.S. and globally. Many of the organizers of the demonstration were Latin@ trans people, some of whom had recently fled their home countries. “We are here to demand that they stop killing us, not just physically, but socially,” said Alexa Rodriguez, the Youth Program Transgender Coordinator with La Clinica Del Pueblo. “We are denied access to work, we are denied access to education, we are denied services.” Rodriguez spoke into the megaphone in Spanish, her calls were met with cheers of agreement from the crowd.